Keith Cook has taught violin for over 40 years. He has experience in Suzuki pedagogy as well as in a variety of traditional teaching styles. Cook’s experience as a teacher extends beyond music; he has taught elementary grades in public school, fifth grade Social Studies, and tutored college courses.
In addition to teaching, Cook has experience as a concert performer, having spent over 35 years in symphony orchestras and opera companies. Most of this time was spent with the Louisville Orchestra, an ensemble which has specialized in playing and recording some of the world’s most hard-to-read contemporary music.
Cook’s own reading skills came from self-instruction. As a child, he learned his entire repertoire by listening and imitating what he heard. As a student at the Eastman School of Music–studying with William Kroll and Millard Taylor–Cook documented his own process for learning to read formally. He later wrote Learning Ledger Lines, a compilation of exercises for sight reading in the high register. The first version of Sight Reading Violin Music was written in 1976 when Cook was asked to prepare a number of Suzuki students for youth orchestra.
Cook does extensive community work, founding West Louisville Talent Education Center–an after-school music and tutoring program, as well as directing outreach programs for Kentucky Center for the Arts.
